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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. lie — to recline
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. degree — from a university
  6. race — a contest
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. clip — a video
  13. mark — a grade
  14. mark — a trace
  15. race — humankind
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. degree — an amount
  18. chip — for betting
  19. degree — temperature
  20. chip — to eat
  21. clip — for paper
  22. race — the arms race
  23. snap — to click
  24. hide — to keep secret

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com